diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 1ce894107f..c0ec00b782 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -1328,6 +1328,18 @@ qemuBuildDriveStr(virDomainDiskDefPtr disk,
         }
     }
 
+    if (disk->iomode) {
+        if (qemuCmdFlags & QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DRIVE_AIO) {
+            virBufferVSprintf(&opt, ",aio=%s",
+                              virDomainDiskIoTypeToString(disk->iomode));
+        } else {
+            qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                            _("disk aio mode not supported with this "
+                              "QEMU binary"));
+            goto error;
+        }
+    }
+
     if (virBufferError(&opt)) {
         virReportOOMError();
         goto error;
@@ -4545,6 +4557,11 @@ qemuParseCommandLineDisk(virCapsPtr caps,
         } else if (STREQ(keywords[i], "readonly")) {
             if ((values[i] == NULL) || STREQ(values[i], "on"))
                 def->readonly = 1;
+        } else if (STREQ(keywords[i], "aio")) {
+            if ((def->iomode = virDomainDiskIoTypeFromString(values[i])) < 0) {
+                qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
+                                _("cannot parse io mode '%s'"), values[i]);
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-disk-aio.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-disk-aio.args
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..15d2a1b76d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-disk-aio.args
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+LC_ALL=C PATH=/bin HOME=/home/test USER=test LOGNAME=test /usr/bin/qemu -S -M pc -m 214 -smp 1 -nographic -monitor unix:/tmp/test-monitor,server,nowait -no-acpi -boot c -drive file=/dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1,if=ide,bus=0,unit=0,format=qcow2,cache=none,aio=native -drive file=/dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest2,if=ide,media=cdrom,bus=1,unit=0,format=raw,aio=threads -net none -serial none -parallel none -usb
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-disk-aio.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-disk-aio.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d8937360ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-disk-aio.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory>219200</memory>
+  <currentMemory>219200</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='hd'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='disk'>
+      <driver name='qemu' type='qcow2' cache='none' io='native'/>
+      <source dev='/dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1'/>
+      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <disk type='block' device='cdrom'>
+      <driver name='qemu' type='raw' io='threads'/>
+      <source dev='/dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest2'/>
+      <target dev='hdc' bus='ide'/>
+      <readonly/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='1' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'/>
+    <memballoon model='virtio'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 0c0693b7be..0a39791d54 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -320,6 +320,8 @@ mymain(int argc, char **argv)
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DEVICE | QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_NODEFCONFIG, false);
     DO_TEST("disk-scsi-device-auto", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DRIVE |
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DEVICE | QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_NODEFCONFIG, false);
+    DO_TEST("disk-aio", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DRIVE | QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DRIVE_AIO |
+            QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DRIVE_CACHE_V2 | QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DRIVE_FORMAT, false);
     DO_TEST("graphics-vnc", 0, false);
     DO_TEST("graphics-vnc-socket", 0, false);
 
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
index ab82d36520..dad91d4e77 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ mymain(int argc, char **argv)
     DO_TEST("clock-utc");
     DO_TEST("clock-localtime");
     DO_TEST("hugepages");
+    DO_TEST("disk-aio");
     DO_TEST("disk-cdrom");
     DO_TEST("disk-floppy");
     DO_TEST("disk-many");